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Supernatural
This episode was entirely made of awesome.
Things I completely loved about this episode:
1. BOBBY! I can't decide which part I loved the most: all his hilarious-but-true advice to Sam and Dean (my favorite line had to be "If you're going to shoot, shoot, don't talk", but I also loved him calling them chuckleheads when they were having the theological debate); the fact that we got to see precisely how networked into the hunting community he actually is (And oh, Olivia, I knew you were a goner the moment we saw you being a kickass female hunter in the teaser); the fact that we got another snippet of his past with the creepy little girls; or the fact that he has a ghost-proof panic room. I loved it all.
2. Sam! I loved the character continuity that he actually doesn't have a problem believing in God and angels, even if he is perhaps calling on demonic powers to fight demons himself. And is it weird that I loved that he forgot the pie?
3. Dean!!! I love that Dean has his priorities so in order (Don't forget the pie!) that he's overcome the bad associations of sending Sam out alone for pie. More seriously, though, all his theological questioning was so in keeping with his whole attitude toward life from Houses of the Holy on forward, and he is asking the basic questions of theodicy, so it's not like there are any easy answers. I also really liked the fact that he doesn't actually think of himself as a hero, just an ordinary guy whose saving people is balanced, morally, by his stealing and ditching girls.
4. The plot: I really liked how the witnesses themselves underscore the theodicy question: how can a God of love exist and yet allow a world so full of evil? Because really, Meg and the little girls and Henriksen and, um, Nightshifter dude whose name I don't remember all really did get extremely bad breaks in their lives. And hearing Meg and Henriksen in particular talk about their torture by demons, and why does Dean get another chance when they didn't--OUCH. That resonates so well with the survivor guilt Dean is feeling right now.
Oh, Henriksen. I SO wish they had found a way to bring you back that didn't involve your actual death.
5. Ruby. I think it's really interesting what we found out from her and about her in this episode. From her: angels are badasses who kill first and ask questions later, and they probably don't think demons can be helpful, by definition. (Sam, you'd better watch out! Some angels may think a little demon blood + a little demonic power=someone asking to be smitten by an angel of the Lord, and not in that good Dean/Castiel way, either.) And about her: she's been going through hosts "for fun," and I think Sam must feel some guilt about associating with her because of that, because the witnesses seemed to focus their accusations on actual guilty feelings of the person they were talking to.
6. APOCALYPSE! But we can't follow Revelation as a map, because the version that's circulating is "the tourists version." Ok, not only is that explanation fun and in keeping with the "true apocalyptic texts are full of hidden secrets" kind of way, but it also gives the SPN writing crew license to do whatever the hell they want--which should be fun to watch. I mean, 66 seals instead of 7? That seems like an auspicious beginning of a plot arc to me.
oh yeah, and
7. LUCIFER will be unleashed. (Someone, I'm sure, is already writing the story where Lucifer is in fact "caged" somehow inside of Sam, right?) I love the continuity from last season--Dean asking wasn't Lucifer just a story in demon Sunday school--but I also loved Castiel's response.
And speaking of which,
8. CASTIEL being all badass and "we're fighting a war against demons with limited resources, so boohoo so sorry I can't hold your hand, and you better be a little more respectful, motherfucker, or I'll toss your disrespectful ass back in the pit" was pretty damn awesome, I thought.
My only complaint was that by mentioning angels hadn't been on earth for 2000 years, the show was leaning a LEETLE too close to specific Christian mythology for my comfort zone. At least if they just stick to God and angels you've got Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism still in play.
And OMG
9. THE PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK! SQUEE TIMES A BILLION! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!
Things I completely loved about this episode:
1. BOBBY! I can't decide which part I loved the most: all his hilarious-but-true advice to Sam and Dean (my favorite line had to be "If you're going to shoot, shoot, don't talk", but I also loved him calling them chuckleheads when they were having the theological debate); the fact that we got to see precisely how networked into the hunting community he actually is (And oh, Olivia, I knew you were a goner the moment we saw you being a kickass female hunter in the teaser); the fact that we got another snippet of his past with the creepy little girls; or the fact that he has a ghost-proof panic room. I loved it all.
2. Sam! I loved the character continuity that he actually doesn't have a problem believing in God and angels, even if he is perhaps calling on demonic powers to fight demons himself. And is it weird that I loved that he forgot the pie?
3. Dean!!! I love that Dean has his priorities so in order (Don't forget the pie!) that he's overcome the bad associations of sending Sam out alone for pie. More seriously, though, all his theological questioning was so in keeping with his whole attitude toward life from Houses of the Holy on forward, and he is asking the basic questions of theodicy, so it's not like there are any easy answers. I also really liked the fact that he doesn't actually think of himself as a hero, just an ordinary guy whose saving people is balanced, morally, by his stealing and ditching girls.
4. The plot: I really liked how the witnesses themselves underscore the theodicy question: how can a God of love exist and yet allow a world so full of evil? Because really, Meg and the little girls and Henriksen and, um, Nightshifter dude whose name I don't remember all really did get extremely bad breaks in their lives. And hearing Meg and Henriksen in particular talk about their torture by demons, and why does Dean get another chance when they didn't--OUCH. That resonates so well with the survivor guilt Dean is feeling right now.
Oh, Henriksen. I SO wish they had found a way to bring you back that didn't involve your actual death.
5. Ruby. I think it's really interesting what we found out from her and about her in this episode. From her: angels are badasses who kill first and ask questions later, and they probably don't think demons can be helpful, by definition. (Sam, you'd better watch out! Some angels may think a little demon blood + a little demonic power=someone asking to be smitten by an angel of the Lord, and not in that good Dean/Castiel way, either.) And about her: she's been going through hosts "for fun," and I think Sam must feel some guilt about associating with her because of that, because the witnesses seemed to focus their accusations on actual guilty feelings of the person they were talking to.
6. APOCALYPSE! But we can't follow Revelation as a map, because the version that's circulating is "the tourists version." Ok, not only is that explanation fun and in keeping with the "true apocalyptic texts are full of hidden secrets" kind of way, but it also gives the SPN writing crew license to do whatever the hell they want--which should be fun to watch. I mean, 66 seals instead of 7? That seems like an auspicious beginning of a plot arc to me.
oh yeah, and
7. LUCIFER will be unleashed. (Someone, I'm sure, is already writing the story where Lucifer is in fact "caged" somehow inside of Sam, right?) I love the continuity from last season--Dean asking wasn't Lucifer just a story in demon Sunday school--but I also loved Castiel's response.
And speaking of which,
8. CASTIEL being all badass and "we're fighting a war against demons with limited resources, so boohoo so sorry I can't hold your hand, and you better be a little more respectful, motherfucker, or I'll toss your disrespectful ass back in the pit" was pretty damn awesome, I thought.
My only complaint was that by mentioning angels hadn't been on earth for 2000 years, the show was leaning a LEETLE too close to specific Christian mythology for my comfort zone. At least if they just stick to God and angels you've got Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism still in play.
And OMG
9. THE PREVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK! SQUEE TIMES A BILLION! I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!
no subject
Huh. Interesting question about the host bodies. I never thought about the Colt and the knife taking their souls, just their mortal lives.
no subject
I never thought about the Colt and the knife taking their souls, just their mortal lives.
Well, I guess I had always just assumed that something kills demon souls, it will kill human souls too. On the other hand, the knife didn't kill Castiel, so maybe those weapons are specific to demon souls. (Which just leads to the question, how are demonic souls *different*? Is it something like was implied in Buffy about soulless demons (at least in seasons 1-3, before Joss complicated the mythology) that past a certain point demons no longer have free will, so they're necessarily evil, and the weapon can actually distinguish that? It makes an actual difference in soul composition?) A Catholic explanation might be that damned souls lack the grace of God (grace being literally defined as the divine light within a soul), so perhaps the weapons can't work on a soul with divine light? Or something else?
We need Kripke to come to a fan con so we can grill him on these important questions!
no subject
The other theme of S4 should be Sam struggling with good and evil in his own abilities. I'd also like to see Sam and/or Dean finding out exactly what the history behind the demon and their mother is, although I get the sense they're going to drag that out until the show ends to give it a sense that they're pulling a common thread through the whole thing.
Well, if demons were originally human (if we assume that wasn't a lie), then demon souls are in their essence the same stuff as human souls, so you're probably right that something that kills demon souls will also kill human souls. On the subject of grace: I totally want you to read Lyda Morehouse's series because I don't want to spoil you for it with what I want to say. Alternatively, have you ever read James Morrow's Only Begotten Daughter? In it, everyone is in hell (I think it's the idea that if some group thinks you're going to hell then you are, and since pretty much every group thinks every group that's not them is going to hell, then everyone ends up there). Jesus is the only person who can get into heaven, but he's Jesus so instead of chillin' in heaven, he's in hell trying to provide comfort to the souls there (although since it's hell, he can't provide them with any real comfort, just doles out endless dippers of water).
no subject